Dec 3 case management for Najib’s suit against Thomas, publisher

 

Najib Razak says the chapter on ‘Altantunya’ in Tommy Thomas’ memoir is defamatory and implies that he was not fit to hold office ‘with blood on his hands’.

PETALING JAYA: The High Court has fixed case management on Dec 3 for a suit filed by Najib Razak against former attorney-general Tommy Thomas and a publisher for defaming him in Thomas’ memoir “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”.

Najib’s lawyer, Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee, said the case management would be conducted virtually before a court registrar.

“We have also served the sealed copies of court documents to both defendants,” he told FMT.

Thomas and publisher GB Gerakbudaya Enterprise Sdn Bhd have 14 days to file their defence upon the service of the writ and statement of claim.

In the suit filed on Oct 27, the former prime minister is seeking unspecified damages and wants words and statements deemed defamatory to be removed from the book.

Najib also wants an apology from Thomas and Gerakbudaya and a permanent injunction that they will not publish anything defamatory about him.

The suit said the alleged defamation was in Chapter 42 under the title “Altantuya”, which ran from pages 400 to 405.

It said a large number of readers would easily identify Najib as being the person written about and criminally linked to the heinous crime of murdering Altantuya Shaariibuu.

The statement said the book, which included the impugned statements, had been published by Gerakbudaya and distributed in and outside Malaysia from late January.

It said numerous extracts of the book, including the impugned statements, had been published and republished on the internet, in various blog sites, websites and media posts.

It said that by clear inference and innuendo, Thomas had conveyed the message that Najib was associated with former policemen Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar, who had been convicted for the murder of the Mongolian woman.

The statement said the book made it look like Najib was unfit to hold public office, with such “blood on his hands”. - FMT